The Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund was created under the Clinton Administration, but its roots are much deeper than that. No one knows those roots better than Clifford Rosenthal, who recently completed "Democratizing Finance: Origins of the Community Development Financial Institutions Movement," a 556-page history of mission-driven lending and investing in the United States. "What is totally unique about the CDFI Fund in policy history is that it provides capital — not loans, but discretionary capital — to build your balance sheet," says Rosenthal.